Prefectures in Japan

Prefecture	Japanese	Capital	Region	Island	ISO 3166-2	Date	Place
Hokkaido	北海道	Sapporo	Hokkaido	Hokkaido	JP-01	Feb09	Sapporo
Aichi	愛知県	Nagoya	Chubu	Honshu	JP-23
Fukui	福井県	Fukui	Chubu	Honshu	JP-18
Gifu	岐阜県	Gifu	Chubu	Honshu	JP-21
Ishikawa	石川県	Kanazawa	Chubu	Honshu	JP-17
Nagano	長野県	Nagano	Chubu	Honshu	JP-20
Niigata	新潟県	Niigata	Chubu	Honshu	JP-15
Shizuoka	静岡県	Shizuoka	Chubu	Honshu	JP-22
Toyama	富山県	Toyama	Chubu	Honshu	JP-16
Yamanashi	山梨県	Kofu	Chubu	Honshu	JP-19
Hiroshima	広島県	Hiroshima	Chugoku	Honshu	JP-34
Okayama	岡山県	Okayama	Chugoku	Honshu	JP-33
Shimane	島根県	Matsue	Chugoku	Honshu	JP-32
Tottori	鳥取県	Tottori	Chugoku	Honshu	JP-31
Yamaguchi	山口県	Yamaguchi	Chugoku	Honshu	JP-35
Chiba	千葉県	Chiba	Kanto	Honshu	JP-12	Aug08	Kaihin Makuhari
Gunma	群馬県	Maebashi	Kanto	Honshu	JP-10
Ibaraki	茨城県	Mito	Kanto	Honshu	JP-08	Aug08	Hitachinaka
Kanagawa	神奈川県	Yokohama	Kanto	Honshu	JP-14	Jan09	Yokohama
Saitama	埼玉県	Saitama	Kanto	Honshu	JP-11
Tochigi	栃木県	Utsunomiya	Kanto	Honshu	JP-09	Oct08	Nikko
Tokyo	東京都	Shinjuku	Kanto	Honshu	JP-13	Aug08	Shinjuku
Hyogo	兵庫県	Kobe	Kinki	Honshu	JP-28
Kyoto	京都府	Kyoto	Kinki	Honshu	JP-26
Mie	三重県	Tsu	Kinki	Honshu	JP-24
Nara	奈良県	Nara	Kinki	Honshu	JP-29
Osaka	大阪府	Osaka	Kinki	Honshu	JP-27
Shiga	滋賀県	Otsu	Kinki	Honshu	JP-25
Wakayama	和歌山県	Wakayama	Kinki	Honshu	JP-30
Akita	秋田県	Akita	Tohoku	Honshu	JP-05
Aomori	青森県	Aomori	Tohoku	Honshu	JP-02
Fukushima	福島県	Fukushima	Tohoku	Honshu	JP-07	Oct08	Eta
Iwate	岩手県	Morioka	Tohoku	Honshu	JP-03
Miyagi	宮城県	Sendai	Tohoku	Honshu	JP-04	Oct08	Haranomachi
Yamagata	山形県	Yamagata	Tohoku	Honshu	JP-06
Fukuoka	福岡県	Fukuoka	Kyushu	Kyushu	JP-40
Kagoshima	鹿児島県	Kagoshima	Kyushu	Kyushu	JP-46
Kumamoto	熊本県	Kumamoto	Kyushu	Kyushu	JP-43
Miyazaki	宮崎県	Miyazaki	Kyushu	Kyushu	JP-45
Nagasaki	長崎県	Nagasaki	Kyushu	Kyushu	JP-42
Oita	大分県	Oita	Kyushu	Kyushu	JP-44
Saga	佐賀県	Saga	Kyushu	Kyushu	JP-41
Okinawa	沖縄県	Naha	Kyushu	Okinawa	JP-47
Ehime	愛媛県	Matsuyama	Shikoku	Shikoku	JP-38
Kagawa	香川県	Takamatsu	Shikoku	Shikoku	JP-37
Kochi	高知県	Kochi	Shikoku	Shikoku	JP-39
Tokushima	徳島県	Tokushima	Shikoku	Shikoku	JP-36

Green - scheduled

Blue - visited

Lifestyle changes

I am starting brush my teeth and wet my hair at the kitchen sink.
I drink black coffee.
I like cheese, butter, vegetables and fruits.
I hate frying.
I don't like to eat fried stuff as much.
I love chips and snacks.
I try to wear outer clothing twice so I don't have to activate the washing machine.
I love to cycle.

Nice day

Today was great! It was Ibaraki Day, meaning all public schools in the prefecture didn't have classes. Almost all the teachers at the school I go to on Thursdays have taken leave, except me since I had no better idea what to do with the time. Kyoto-sensei, the Vice-Principal, also came in the morning and when he finally left, he told me I can leave early (2-3pm) for all the extra time I have put in over the past few months. Well I didn't really clock them due to work per se but rather to just hang around and chat with other teachers (it's fun!), but I think he was just finding an excuse to let me go haha!

So at 2pm I got ready to leave when a student from the volleyball club saw me on my way to my bicycle and asked if I can conduct English remedial in preparation for the school tests next week. I was really thrilled because it was the first time a student has approached me in their own accord! It's at a technical school too, a little like ITE so I don't expect much from students here. Usually they would do that through the proxy/prodding/pushing of a Japanese Teacher. So it was fun to do 3 hours of ... present, past and past participle tenses. In the end, I left at my usual departure time just like any ordinary day. There goes the early dismissal! So that made my day, together with the nice feeling that Kyoto-sensei is looking out for me. :) And students are warming up to me. :) Nice!

Sudden outpouring of concern

It is now a cool 9.37pm. It is the middle of autumn here and the weather forecast says the weather outside is 12 degrees Celsius, though my alarm clock says it is 15 degrees Celsius indoors. Whenever I breathe out, wisps of vapour can be seen especially if I drink something warm beforehand.

The past few weeks have been quite alright, though it is past 3 months since I first arrived in Japan and things are starting to get challenging. While on one hand I have an established routine (i.e. when and where to work and what to do once I reach home), I have started to run short of ideas and it does not help that it is often rather cold to do anything productive outside. I am trying very hard not to switch on the air conditioner to heat up the room as well.

Last week it seems like apparently all the Vice-Principals (kyoto-senseis) and Principals (kocho-senseis) had a meeting of sorts about me/the foreigner English teacher and they became rather nice to me which took me by surprise since I usually do not receive favours from them. At my base school, kyoto-sensei promised to make me onigiri/rice balls from home courtesy of his wife and he did, giving me a wonderful lunch treat last Thursday. He made 4 flavours to choose from and there were labels. I tried very hard to avoid the one with the plum but in vain. Because there was a labelling mistake! I ended with two very healthy rice balls but one was the sour plum argh. He felt rather bad after that which caught me by surprise, though I must say I did not give a very flattering reply when he expressed his concern. I said his onigiri is very delicious, and the plum is much more pleasant than those I tried at the convenience stores. Opps! Just this following Monday he gave me 2 cookies as omiyage/souvenirs of his trip to Fukushima. Now I feel indebted! Another strange thing was he passed his messages and omiyage through this other female teacher who sits beside him in the staff room. First it was the message that he was sorry and stressed about giving me the wrong rice ball, and then it was the omiyage. I found it weird that I had to thank him through a proxy, but perhaps that is office politics? It might seem to other teachers that I am receiving extra favours from him which might be unfair since they do not seem to receive such red carpet treatment from him.

In another school, kocho-sensei grabbed me from the staff room last Tuesday and we had our second talk in his office. These talks are rather long, almost 30 minutes! He ended up giving me some kiwis which he harvested from his backyard (wow!) and a ticket to an art exhibition by a former graduate of the school. Cool!

In yet another school, koch0-sensei took the effort to talk to me for 5 minutes last Wednesday. However in the final school, nothing seems to be going on so far.

Well I hope I am not giving trouble!

I recently fell in love with this MTV "同じ月を見てた" by Going Under Ground. As per one of the comments, I also want something like this!